I have had ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as it is often called, for around 2 years. It is a disease that affects 250,000 people in the UK and around 17 million worldwide. Many of us with this illness not only suffer miserable physical and mental symptoms but we also suffer emotionally through the isolation of being housebound or bedbound. We also face the stigma of disbelief perpetuated by the myth that ME is not real, or it is a psychiatric illness. It is real, it is physical and has been proven to be so but many, including some medical professionals, choose to ignore this.
In the UK the annual budget per patient for research and treatment of ME is less than £1. Less than £1 per year, per patient. Is it any wonder
so little is understood about this illness and how it can be treated, in fact at this time there is no effective treatment.
But, such little funding creates a massive opportunity. An opportunity for each of us to do something amazing and to truly make a difference in peoples’ lives. I have chosen to raise money for the ME Association because they do some fantastic work and they have been very kind
and supportive to me over this last couple of years. They are a small charity so whatever we raise will be a massive contribution to them and crucially to those they support.
And so to the part where I need your help. Now, I can’t run a marathon, or go for a bike ride, or do an obstacle course race or even sign up for a sponsored walk as much as I would love to and believe me I would love to. If you would like to do something like that to help that would be incredible but I am not asking you to do anything out of the ordinary.
What I am asking you to do is to do something you love. Do something that makes your day, or your week. Whether that is visiting friends,
spending time with your family, going for a coffee, going for a jog, playing football, walking the dog, going to the cinema, going for a cycle with your mates or just going for a pint at the pub. While you are having a good time please take a moment to remember that there are those of us with ME who simply can’t do these things, and if we did we would pay a heavy price for it. And, please, if you can make a small donation to this cause, whatever you can, I would be massively grateful. Perhaps the cost of a coffee or a pint for an absent friend, or the cost of a bag of popcorn for someone who could never cope with getting to a cinema. Don’t worry about feeling a small contribution will not make a difference - remember £1 will pay for research and treatment for one patient for a year!
Little donations often and bringing ME to the forefront of peoples’ minds will hugely change or even save ME sufferers' lives.
Please, please like and share this page far and wide. Send me photos and videos of what you have been doing to remember those with ME/CFS and I will add them to this page. I would love to see what you are getting up to and it is so important to us, the ones who have disappeared from jobs, social circles and even families, to know that we are not forgotten.
I will be running this campaign for the rest of 2019 because recovery from ME is not measured in weeks or months, but in years. We desperately need to raise awareness of this disease and I will be doing my bit and encouraging you as much as I can along the way.
Please remember ME. Thank you.
